From what I've seen in the martial arts world. At one time grappling was viewed with skepticism. Lots of people thought striking arts were more effective than grappling arts because a striker could knock out a grappler. Then in the 90s, due to people such as the Gracies, grappling became very big. A good grappler was shown to be able to tie a striker up and neutralize their striking ability as the Gracies did very effectively. Now MMA is very big. MMA or Mixed Martial Arts combines the two. The way I see it, every style has their strengths and weaknesses. MMA is really good in that it makes you well rounded, you learn how to strike and grapple and how to combine it. but a weakness I see in MMA is that you can spread yourself too thin and become a "jack of all trades master of none." So, personally I think MMA is good if you already have experience in other martial arts. If you already have a good background in a striking art and a grappling art and you want to combine them.
MMA is the fad right now I believe
- Thread starter PhotonGuy
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Ouch!
I would say we start with striking as a goal, from there we can re-direct (slam people into walls and stuff), and finally we learn to grapple, It is the hardest, I think, but it is a base we need to cover. I think grapplers lose sight of the street aspect of their art sometimes, meaning, it should be your last resort. There are too many people involved to play "Cage Match" on the street, but it is a good skill to develop.Where to start.........
Where to start.........
I find that a good old
is often the best place to start. Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Really.
So whats your point photonguy? You didn't really tell us what you want from this thread, you didn't ask a question. Is MMA a fad? Maybe that should have been in the op. You make some good points. MMA may have silenced the grappling skeptics, of course some still ignore it as a very important range to train because "the streets", where you're always fighting a horde of people on asphalt covered with broken glass. I think mma has raised the bar as to what constitutes a good fighting system. It hasn't eliminated the need for striking specialists and grappling specialists. Mma may be popular right now but I'm not sure it qualifies as a fad. I suppose it means how you define a fad. Typically I think of a fad as something that reaches a peak of popularity than all but vanishes from the public eye. I don't think this will be the case with mma, it's popularity may decline some but I think it will still be quite visible in our culture. Just as boxing was once more popular and the popularity declined, but it has always been a presence and you'll see a boxing match on a a sports bar on any given weekend night. Like mma boxing set a precedent for the art of punching within its ruke set. You'd think with all the systems out there that punch another styke completely separate from boxing could enter the ring and give the boxers a run for their money but it's not the case. Boxing is still relevant and will remain that way.
drop bear
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As far as the jack of all trades idea. You need to find quality specialists to either learn from or spar with. Which will make the individual aspects of your martial arts better.
It also makes those specialist styles better as well. It is a bit win. Win.
It also makes those specialist styles better as well. It is a bit win. Win.
Mmm, could have sworn fad was an ice lolly. Oh hang on, no that was a Fab ice lolly, like MMA. Lots of sugar, no stick.
This is the same way Kickboxing started in the west. You did karate, then added boxing. For a hobby level practitioner doing it all at once makes the most sense. You don't need everything in wrestling, BJJ and Muay Thai for MMA. A lot of the stuff in those "base" styles is not going to be useful in MMA. Take the stuff that applies to MMA out of them, add in the specific things that are just relevant to MMA (ex G&P, cage/wall work, etc) and you have a complete system. There is no reason to learn spider guard or low singles and a ton of other stuff that doesn't really apply.
For a pro trying to make a career out of it cross-training is going to have more benefit, but they have a lot more time to train and there is a point of diminishing returns. But until the amateur side of the sport gets sorted out and can handle recreational practitioners and youth safely on a large scale most top level fighters are going to come in with a base in something else that they started competing in when they where young.
I'm not sure grappling arts were ever viewed with scepticism, Judo has been going quite nicely in the UK at least since the late 19th century as well as local wrestling traditions and catch wrestling. Our native wrestling styles have been going for centuries. While I can only speak for the UK I believe it's much the same worldwide.
As for being a jack of all trades well no, an MMA fighter is a thing of it's own.
We have a tremendous amount of amateur fighters here who while fighting pro rules are what you call recreational fighters. They have a fight when they feel they want to. MMA has been going long enough here for newcomers into the sport are learning MMA as a whole rather than having a base art.
As for being a jack of all trades well no, an MMA fighter is a thing of it's own.
We have a tremendous amount of amateur fighters here who while fighting pro rules are what you call recreational fighters. They have a fight when they feel they want to. MMA has been going long enough here for newcomers into the sport are learning MMA as a whole rather than having a base art.
Danny T
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MMA is still growing, is beyond being a fad, and has become a martial art training method in of its self. It will be with us for quite some time.
Why do you want to learn the grappling art? Sometime you just don't want to meet your fist with your opponent's face. What's the option? You can either control your opponent while standing, or take him down and then control him on the ground. In either case, you can ask him if he is willing to stop bothering you.
Since you can test your grappling skill in safe environment, the grappling art will always be more popular than the striking art. The day that you realize that you can take your opponent down with full force, the day that you will like the grappling art.
Can you
- take your opponent down? You know you can.
- knock your opponent down? You may not too sure about it.
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drop bear
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That is sort of time and pedigree. You are correct a six year old wont have come from a mma competition background. But might be bjjing.
Having said that they are competing here at 14 i think.
drop bear
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Why do you want to learn the grappling art? Sometime you just don't want to meet your fist with your opponent's face. What's the option? You can either control your opponent while standing, or take him down and then control him on the ground. In either case, you can ask him if he is willing to stop bothering you.
Since you can test your grappling skill in safe environment, the grappling art will always be more popular than the striking art. The day that you realize that you can take your opponent down with full force, the day that you will like the grappling art.
Can you
- take your opponent down? You know you can.
- knock your opponent down? You may not too sure about it.
Striking is probably more popular here by the way.
fighters were strikers.
RTKDCMB
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The Yo Yo is a fad (an appropriate one since it goes away and comes back again periodically). MMA has been constantly round too long to be generally considered a fad. An individual can consider it one if they like to chop and change activities often.
You may not have experienced the skepticism toward the relevancy of grappling but it exists. Perhaps others will chime in and validate this from their experience too. One particularly hard headed poster here recently went on about how he or a true high level tkd master could easily handle a grappler. There are many who decry the benefits of grappling because it's "not good in the streets" allegedly. Many people still refuse to admit that a well rounded fighter needs some grappling knowedge especially in the needle ridden and broken glass covered streets!
drop bear
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You may not have experienced the skepticism toward the relevancy of grappling but it exists. Perhaps others will chime in and validate this from their experience too. One particularly hard headed poster here recently went on about how he or a true high level tkd master could easily handle a grappler. There are many who decry the benefits of grappling because it's "not good in the streets" allegedly. Many people still refuse to admit that a well rounded fighter needs some grappling knowedge especially in the needle ridden and broken glass covered streets!
and the belts as well. "you have been training five years and you are not a black belt? You cant be very good then"
